Things that make us laugh

There's no end it seems to the surprises that happen in Senegal. For example, let's just go through a few of the things that happened this week.
I've been walking around for several weeks with a dime sized hole in one of my flip-flops. Pretty much everyday all my friends point out how disgusting it is for me to be walking around like that here of all places. It wasn't that I don't agree with them about that but there isn't really a store to go to and I was afraid of buying shoes that would hurt my feet since I walk so much here. Nonetheless, my friend Sara and I were walking to Wolof class the other day when a man on the street was holding lots of shoes and trying to sell them to us. This happens a lot here with pretty much anything you can imagine. You can buy a scale or a bag of peanuts while sitting in traffic. Usually I just say Non, merci but since I actually needed shoes I bought them. I got to class and everyone started complimenting me and asking where I bought them. Uhhh, just now from some dude on the street.
Anyway, more funny things... Sunday night Alex took some friends and I to watch some soccer matches in the big ass stadium. We were definitely the only white people there and pretty much the only females so when I had to use the restroom we ran into some problems. Namely that there was no restroom for women. Thus, Alex walked me out of the stadium and across the street to a house where he asked if I could use their restroom. Of course they said yes because it's Senegal and people are so friendly. They walked me in and then there it was... a goat! right outside the bathroom door. I couldn't stop laughing as I was using the restroom and all I could hear was baaa baaaa baaa. Hil-arious. Anyway, my neighborhood's team won the game and my neighborhood in turn went nuts. Next Sunday is the final so I'm excited now about that.
Yesterday I went to work with my sister. She's a teacher at a preschool. The school was sooo adorable. Everything was bright and happy. It appeared just like a school back home would. There were three classes so everyone came in wearing there red, blue, and green smocks. In the morning they did their stretches and dances which I loved every minute of. After that they seperated into their own classrooms. Unfortunately this is where it became a little more sad. My sister's class of five year olds had 10 desks for a class of 30. The rest put their chalkboards on stools and sat in plastic chairs. The room was incredibly crowded and I was shocked at how well behaved everyone was. I feel like it might've been one of the better preschools as far as public schools go. The students were definitely better dressed than a lot of kids I pass in the streets and the school seemed to be in a more well to do area.
Also, Alex has malaria. I suppose that makes this a good time to dispell some myths about the illness. Yes, lots of people die of malaria; that is true. However, it's not really a terminal illness. People get malaria here all the time. It's basically like getting the flu for us except from the looks of it, a lot more miserable. The reason a lot of people die from it is just because they're too poor to afford the medication. If you aren't in that predicament you just take the pills or the injections and rest a few days and are well recovered. Thus, Alex has to get 12 injections over the next 3 days. Not fun but at least he's not going to die.
Sadly the man who bought me coffee last week decided to profess his love for me yesterday which really just ruins the whole experience of him buying me coffee. Sometimes you think that people are just being nice here and then you find that they had ulterior motives. Now I hate walking to my school because he blows me kisses and tells me all these mushy things despite the fact that I explained that I have a boyfriend already. Boys here are a dissappointment. Thank God for Alex because otherwise I wouldn't have any Senegalese friends. His friends are amazing and I love them all. And he's basically my favorite boy ever so that makes up for all the others.
For example, Saturday night much of the group went to a party in a nearby sicap (suburb). A party is basically just a whole bunch of people dancing in a house. They never even get started until around 2 am and then you can be out until 7. I started dancing with one guy and he was getting a kick out of spinning me around and how much I was actually responding to his dance moves. Then he started parading me around in front of everyone at the party and all the men started fighting over me. Finally my friend Sara came and pulled me away from all of them and then she spent 20 minutes literally dragging them off of me as they all tried pulling me in different directions. So, being white and female in Senegal is kind of a pain in the ass.
Last night was a giant prayer at my house. The second time this has happened. The first time Alex and I were walking down the street when we ran into Alex's brother Benj on the way back to the house. He was carrying a big wooden box and I couldn't help laughing when I asked what it was and he showed me the big shrine for Mary. Oh my. There were so many people at the house last night that I didn't really know where to go and with Alex being sick and in his room I sort of secluded myself in my own room for dinner. Later on in the night my brother Benj knocked on my door and when I opened it he stuck a beer in and popped the cap of for me. Another hilarious event at the Gomis residence.